The Dimension Keeper (Very AU Kingdom Hearts fic)
by Sphinx-Keeper
Summary: Based off a roleplay I did years ago with friends: Born with no memories except her old name Ai, a Nobody girl is found outside the castle of Organization XIII and taken in. But what if some of the members knew of her past? Meanwhile visitors from another dimension come looking for the broken Dimension Keeper, a being of immense power that keeps balance of the worlds. Please R&R
1. Prologue: The Fateful Night

**Prologue: The Fateful Night**

The night was peaceful, the mechanical town of Radiant Garden put under a deep slumber. Everyone except six men that walked through the shadows and lights, their white lab coats trailing in the breeze as they traveled towards a large house in the distance. They went past a gate and down a path through a garden of roses until they found a large window. Inside sleeping right next to it was a young girl with long rosy pink hair. The leader of the men, a man with long white hair and tan skin, reached up and tapped the window gingerly. The girl stirred and slowly woke up, rubbing her blue eyes. She looked out the window and gasped when she saw who it was. The girl looked around then slowly opened her window to try and make little to no sound. She smiled at her guests though her brow raised in confusion.

"Xehanort, what are you doing here so late at night?" she whispered, leaning down to be gaze into the man's amber eyes. "We wanted to show you the results of our experiment." he replied with a small smile, "Would you like to come with us?" He extended his arm and opened his hand for her to hold onto. The girl stared back. "You mean...you finished it?" she said with amazement. He nodded. Looking around much more, she reached out and took his hand. Slowly with his help she jumped out of the open window and landed next to him and the rest of the group. They started walking together now, past the house and down the streets of town, the girl holding onto Xehanort's hand as she walked alongside him. "So, does Ansem the Wise know you finished it?" she asked. Suddenly the group fell silent until an older man with salt and pepper hair spoke up.

"He worked so hard Ai, the old man fell to sleep before we finished it." he replied with a grin. This made the girl laugh which eased everyone's tension. "So, why wake me up then?" she asked with a smile. "Xehanort wanted you to be the first one to see it." said a man with long blond hair and greenish blue eyes, his tone holding a 'I despise young couples' sound. This made some of the others laugh. They reached the mansion where the lab was kept in the basement and opened the door. Xehanort led everyone inside down long steps and past cabinets and tables with vials of different liquids until they stopped inside one of the room with a cage inside. The cage contained a strange black creature with glowing yellow eyes and antennas with claws on its hands. "Behold, a creature born from the darkness of peoples hearts. We decided to name it the Heartless as despite being made from hearts, it doesn't have on of its own." explained Xehanort. Ai stared up at it in awe and slowly walked towards the cage. "How fascinating..." she said, reaching her hand up at the creature. Xehanort quickly grabbed her hand and glared at the creature who looked to be eyeing her intently.

"I wouldn't touch it, we're still unsure what they are capable of." he said. The others watched it, observing its movements and jotting down notes. Suddenly it dissolved into a puddle that looked like oil before reappearing with an exact copy of itself. The scientists and Ai gasped. One of them muttered "It's never done that before." Suddenly the hearts that were kept in containers in the room began to glow and more and more heartless appeared before they burst of the cage. They began crawling around on the floor and turned towards the humans. In a flash they leaped to attack but the six scientists quickly stepped in and fought back, pushing Ai behind them. But the numbers were growing and the apprentices found themselves covered in darkness and with a scream disappeared, their hearts floating into the sky. Ai watched in absolute fear as Xehanort stood slowly disappearing, his look mirroring hers. Containers were knocked over and unbalanced chemicals caused an explosion which knocked Ai back into a wall and knocked her unconscious.

The Heartless began to spread outside the castle and smoke formed from broken machines in the lab. In the middle of it all shadows formed figures who stepped out into the light. One knelt down and picked up the unconscious girl in his arms and took her out of the lab and out into the streets. People were running away frantically as Heartless continued to multiply, spreading darkness which overran the once beautiful town. Ai's parents came rushing out of their house only to find their missing daughter on the front steps of their porch. They picked her up and brought her to their gummi ship. Ai began to stir and looked dazed for awhile until she remembered what had happened and began to panic. "W-What's going on!? Xehanort, where's Xehanort?" she cried out as her parents took reign in the ship. "There's no time Ai, we must escape quickly!" her father shouted back as they started up the gummi ship and immediately took off. Once they were at a safe speed to stand, Ai ran to one of the windows and looked out to watch her home world slowly begin to disappear into shadow. Tears slid down her cheeks as she silently prayed for Xehanort's safety and the safety of his companions.

They weren't safe for long however as Heartless managed to reach them while they tried to travel to safety and damaged the ship so badly it crashed into a newly made world. It was one covered in rain and it was always night. The family managed to escape their busted transport only for Heartless to surround them. They took out Ai's parents first and the girl gave a scream as one pierced a claw right into her chest. She fell down on the streets, body lifeless and becoming soaked in the rain. Slowly she began to disappear...


	2. Chapter 1: Awaken

Chapter 1: Awaken

The rain created pools of darkened water on the graveled streets of a dark city and dripped slowly down locks of rosy pink hair. A female wearing a long blue dress with white ruffles lay drenched with no life, heart disappearing into the sky. The shadowed creatures who killed her vanished into the depths of the city. A robed figure emerged from a portal created at the scene and slowly stepped towards the fallen victim.

Her black boots began to disintegrate into a flurry of rose petals that scattered into the night sky. Forming beside her with the left over petals was another female with silky pink hair, her body draped in a black lacy dress. The figure lifted the newborn soul up and carried her away into another dark portal created from his one free hand.

They appeared in a bright white room with chairs that floated up in a spiral towards the ceiling. He set her down on the center platform in the room before leaving once more to gather the others of his group. In a matter of minutes more robed figures appeared in the room, their clouded faces concentrated on the frail girl in the center. The figures teleported to the seats above and waited for their leader to begin to carry out the situation and for the girl to awaken.

The young woman stirred and slowly rose, struggling a bit with her form and looked up from beneath her rosy pink bangs at the figure towering before her. "Do you remember anything?" was the first thing he asked. The question left the others whispering in thoughts and confusion. The young woman shook her head. "I don't remember anything, nothing except a name. Ai." She replied her voice soft and lovely, almost alluring. She held her head, giving a groan of pain as she tried to study what was around the room.

"Then we shall give you a new name." from the sound of the voice the young woman figured it was a man standing in front of her. He waved one arm and the letters A I appeared in front of her. With another wave an X hovered above the two before they started swirling together faster and faster until the word Xia came out of it. The girl stared at it before testing the name on her tongue. "Xi...a." she said and slowly stood herself up in front of the figure. She was tall and slightly curvy, her black dress trailing against the upper parts of her knees and was sleeveless and strapless with an open back.

The others broke into murmurs before the man silenced them. "Well then Xia, I welcome you to Organization XIII. You are now our new 14th member." He said and waved dismissal to the others but stayed with the rather confused girl. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, though her voice was full of gratitude, or at least what would be gratitude if she had a heart to feel it. "You have no memories; therefore you have nowhere else to go. I will assure you while you are here you will remain safe and have a place to call your own." He replied and slowly lifted his hood.

He had dark skin and vivid orange-yellow eyes that would look menacing if angry. He brushed softly back long silver locks of hair and strode past the girl. "Come, we need to train you and see what you are capable of." He said and like a lost dog Xia came with no questions asked. Soon she discovered she had the power to summon vines and control them and other plants, as well as make a weapon materialize in her hands, a large bladed ring that was half the size of her body. "This is great and all but you never told me your name and what is this Organization that I'm in." She said after he told her she was done practicing her newfound power.

"Xemnas. You can just call me Xemnas." He said gruffly and took her on a tour of the castle. He explained who exactly he was and about the Organization that she was now a part of. He also explained what Xia and the others, including him, were. That they were Nobodies, shells with no heart but a soul and the memories of what it felt like to have a heart, so much so that sometimes the others mentioned they could feel real emotions.

Xemnas also explained their goal, to collect the hearts that Heartless, figures born from the darkness of people's hearts, have stolen and with the hearts they will be able to make Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of all Worlds. Completing Kingdom Hearts would give the Nobodies a chance to get their heart back and thus become whole again. This excited Xia, the chance to gain back the heart she lost and become normal again. Everything all made sense, however Xemnas mentioned how strange it was that she had no memories, none whatsoever. Every other Nobody could remember who they were before they turned into a Nobody, everybody but Xia.

He let her go to meet the others in the castle, wandering to his spot in the castle called The Altar of Naught to be alone. The first person she ran into was a younger looking boy with spiky blonde hair wearing the same black coat Xemnas wore. She collided with him in the hallway and immediately apologized but the boy laughed.

"It's alright, you must be the new recruit. I'm Demyx." He said with a grin and stuck his hand out to shake. She shook his hand, looking at him confused. "Does everyone have an X in his or her name?" she asked, looking past him briefly to see a lounge like area in the distance. "Well yeah, it's our trademark I guess you could say." The boy replied, stroking his chin in that thought. Xia had yet to receive the Organization's trademark cloak like him and the others she remembered seeing when she first arrived here, but she figured she would receive one soon.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone since you really didn't get to meet them when you first came here." He exclaimed and had her follow him to the lounge like area. Sitting on a couch reading a book was an older man with short blonde hair and a goat-tee and nearby playing darts was another older man with long salt and pepper hair tied to a ponytail and wearing an eye patch over his right eye. The blonde man upon seeing Demyx and the young girl enter the room looked up from his book and raised a brow.

The man playing darts stopped a moment and turned towards the two and gave a big grin. "Well well, if it isn't the lovely rose coming to meet us." He said and Xia gave a slight frown to the nickname, "Might as well introduce myself to you, name is Xigbar." He walked over to the girl and patted her on the head. "Nice to meet you sweet rose." He continued with a mischievous grin. The blonde man in the mean time had rose from his seat and strode past and shoved Xigbar to the side.

"Xigbar that is no way to treat a young woman. She is not a child." He said with a scoff and took Xia's hand and leaned down and gently kissed it then stood straight back up. "I apologize about him, he has no manners." He glared at Xigbar who frowned back, "My name is Luxord. I welcome you to our Organization." He continued with a charming smile. If Xia could blush she would have as she stared back into his dark blue eyes. "P-pleasure to meet you too." She managed to say through a bit of a stammer.

Demyx took her to meet everyone that was left in the Organization, Saix, Xaldin, and Axel. Xia pondered on the fact that not all thirteen were there, but Demyx simply answered he didn't know what happened to them, and it seemed like a lie. She didn't question any further though and after Demyx left she thought of what to do next. Suddenly Xemnas popped in her mind. Xia didn't understand why she would want to see the Superior as the others called him again but opened a portal to the Altar of Naught anyway and stepped in.

She saw Xemnas standing and looking at the dark sky and slowly approached him. Without even looking at her he said, "I forgot to tell you one thing. While everyone has missions they must accomplish each day in different worlds, I want you to stay in the castle." This confused Xia. "Why? You saw what I am capable of! I can do those missions just as easily as anyone else." She cried out back. Xemnas didn't give an answer but instead said, "Just do it." This wasn't good enough for Xia as she huffed at him in frustration and disappeared into a portal to her room which Xemnas had shown her earlier.

The room was simple with white walls and floors and a bed and nothing else. A black cloak, the kind the Organization wore, laid on the mattress. Xia crashed onto the comfortable white bed and lay there upset. Why couldn't she go? Why wouldn't Xemnas tell her anything? To calm herself down she started to decorate her room, growing vines on the walls with pretty white flowers and blooming giant red roses from the ground all around her room. She even grew one on top of her bed, big enough that she could rest in the soft petals.

That's when she decided she would sneak out of the castle to a random world. It would be easy to do without Xemnas knowing, and she could leave her cloak behind so no one, including the Keybladers Xemnas told her about, would know she was part of the Organization.


	3. Chapter 2: Trespassers

Chapter 2: Trespassers

The plan was simple. Xia would just open up a dark portal leading out to the worlds, just like Xemnas showed her, and enter in wearing the cloths she was 'born' in so she wouldn't cause suspicion. After all she just looked like a normal girl with her black dress and shoes. Taking a deep breath, she opened the portal and stepped inside. When she came out, she popped out in a small looking town. There were little houses and stores abundant and gardens everywhere. It all felt familiar to the girl but she shook it off when she spotted a brunette boy walking along the street with a strange dog man and a duck. "That has to be him." Xia thought, remembering the description given to her from the others who had seen the Keyblader briefly.

This gave her a fun idea. Hiding in a corner away from the boy, she summoned Dusks, simple Nobodies born from those who didn't have the purest of hearts and became the minions of the Organization, and told them to surround her in the square of the town and make it look like she was being attacked. She carried out the plan just in time for the Keyblader boy to walk by and see her on the ground looking scared and being surrounded by Dusk nobodies. "I have to save her!" she heard him say and his buddies followed and destroyed the Dusks easily, just as planned. He walked over to Xia who still pretended to be scared but started to calm down once he approached.

"Oh thank you." She said as she took his hand so he could help her up, "Those things came out of nowhere and attacked me. My name is Ai, what is yours?" she asked and gave her best smile. It felt strange using the name she woke up knowing but it was for the best to not raise suspicion. "I'm Sora. And it was nothing saving you like that. All in a days work." He gave a big goofy grin. Xia could tell immediately this boy was going to be an easy sucker. To think they were using him so easily to destroy Heartless so they can collect hearts, and he didn't even realize it. She hung around Sora some more, exploring the town and wondering why it all still seemed familiar, like she had been there before.

It wasn't long before Xia decided she should leave soon so Xemnas wouldn't find out about her escape. She waved goodbye to Sora and went around a corner to an alley to dark portal when suddenly one appeared right underneath her. She gave a small yelp when a hand reached out and grabbed her and dragged her inside. She appeared back at the castle, a glaring Xemnas staring her down. "Why did you leave?" he growled, still holding her by the arm as he pulled her close to him. She glared back and broke free from his grasp. "Because I'm fine out there Xemnas! If you were there you would have seen I had that silly keyblader in the palm of my hand. He didn't suspect anything!" she shouted back and stood up tall and bumped her head against his to look him in the eyes.

Xemnas didn't say a word but Xia could see in his amber eyes a look of… concern. Concern? This startled her a bit as she stepped away from him. Not saying anything she just turned around and ran away, ran to anywhere far away to think about things. The silver haired man sighed and turned away and walked towards the giant window where a small heart could be seen glowing in the sky. Xigbar, who was nearby and had watched the whole thing, stepped out from behind the corner and walked next to Xemnas. "Quite a feisty one, isn't she?" He asked with a grin. Xemnas didn't answer and turned away.

It had been some time since then, Xia stayed in the castle as obeyed. But she started to notice something strange, certain members hadn't been back in a long time, even the ones she grew to know better being cooped in the castle. Sitting in the meeting room she counted the numbers. Soon, it became only her, Xigbar, Saix, and Xemnas. She had asked Xemnas about it in which he only replied it was the keyblade chosen that struck their members down.

A fury welled in the girl's soul. Why was he against them? Sure they were manipulating him a bit without him knowing, but from what she heard he wouldn't have agreed to their plans in the first place. Didn't he realize they just wanted to have hearts again, to feel again? She was sitting in her room in thought about everything that was happening when a Dusk appeared in front of her. She looked at it curiously and it slipped her a note. 'Intruders have infiltrated the castle. Stay put in your room. Superior's orders.' It read. It must have been from Saix, Xemnas' right hand man who hardly left his side.

Xia grumbled and crumbled the paper in her hand. The intruders had to be the keyblade chosen and she wasn't about to sit still while they attacked the remaining members. She got up and ran for the door but the Dusk got in her way. Suspecting this would happen she snapped her fingers and vines appeared and slammed the Nobody into the wall and tied him up before running out the door. Quickly she ran through the corridors, keeping an eye out for Sora and anyone else who wasn't an Organization member.

She saw a red robed figure walking with something in his arms down the halls along with another much smaller figure and immediately ran for them, her weapon, a giant ringblade, in her hands. The smaller figure turned around immediately and struck her ringblade with a golden keyblade. Her eyes widened a bit to see a mouse wielding the weapon. She pushed both of them back and was going to charge again when a deep voice said, "Wait!" They both paused and the robed figure came out into the light to reveal an older blonde man.

"Ai?" he said to the pink haired girl and she stared at him in shock. "H-how…how do you know that name?" she stammered, taking a step back. The mouse looked between the two of them confused and the man answered, "My name is Ansem the Wise. I knew a girl named Ai long ago. You look just like her." Xia continued to stare at him with widened eyes. "That's because I am-" she began to say but was cut off when a corridor opened nearby and Xemnas came out, catching her attention. He didn't look pleased at first though an unexpected smirk appeared on his face as he saw who all was there before him. Without a word he threw open a corridor at Xia's feet and she gasped as he forced her inside.

Ansem was too late to stop him and merely lowered his gaze. "So…you do still remember her. I'm not surprised. Though I am surprised you still hold any emotions for her." He said, keeping his focus on his machine. "It's nice to see you again…Master." Xemnas replied, ignoring his words. Meanwhile Xia reappeared in her room again and she slammed onto the floor. Instead of anger she was severely confused. Why? Why did he keep doing this? Forcing her to stay in the castle, telling her to stay out of the way when the castle was under attack. Taking her away from the one person who knew something about her past self? Was it to protect her?

She saw the Dusk still tied to the wall and with a sigh let him go before quickly running out yet again. She was going to get answers. She was not going to be pushed around like this! Xia had already lost so much. All the other members who she had become friends with taken by the keyblade chosen. People she considered family because she had no one else. No, because they became important to her. Dusks began to follow her as if trying to hold her back but she strangely could understand them as they tried to talk to her.

They were reporting to her, telling her the keyblade chosen were working their way through the castle and had killed Xigbar and even Saix. That left…

Xia in a panic threw open a corridor to lead her to the top of the castle, the one place she knew Xemnas liked to be. She hoped perhaps he moved there after meeting Ansem. What she stumbled into wasn't the castle at all, instead a strange world enveloped in light and darkness. Standing far from her were Sora and another keyblade wielder she didn't recognize, both of them facing Xemnas. With one final strike, they both stabbed him with their keyblades causing Xia to cry out. Xemnas spotted her and seemed to reach out for her as he slowly began to disappear. Another corridor opened and just as the two boys glanced over to look at her, she vanished with a horrified look in her eyes.


	4. Chapter 3: Alone

Organization XIII Recruits story: Chap. 3 Alone

Everyone was gone. She had thought they were strong enough to take on the keyblade wielder and his friends but he proved her wrong each time he took a member. And she witnessed them taking the last one, the leader of the Organization, Xemnas. It was strange how he reached out for her as she disappeared into a dark portal he created at the last minute. And now no one was around to answer the questions that she had since she joined.

Sitting in a white room with large windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, was a young woman with long light pink hair wearing a black double zipper trench coat with a long black dress underneath, her knees pulled up to her chest. She had no idea how long it had been since everyone in the Organization disappeared. The plants growing through the cracks of the white castle, some blooming flowers, were all her doing and not a thing of passing time.

She had thought the keyblade wielders would come back for her as they caught a glimpse of her as she vanished in the corridor. But no one came. It could have been days, weeks, possibly years, Xia had no idea. The whole time she stayed in the castle, feeling broken. She thought she had hated Xemnas for treating her like a child and yet she yearned to see him again as well as everyone else. The pink haired Nobody stared out one of the large windows to the sky where their Kingdom Hearts used to be. The only company she had were her special nobodies, half woman half flowers with vines for legs and petals for hair who giggled and would help dress her or brush her hair.

Today was another day to sit and stare into space, not even her Nobodies could cheer her up right now. Everything was silent that the sudden sound of a door creaking startled the girl as she struggled to get to her feet and summoned her weapon. Could it be the keyblade wielders after all this time coming back to finish the job? A shock of blonde hair poked out first, then a very familiar face. The one who showed her around the castle when she first joined. "Demyx!" she shouted and ran to him, practically tackling him almost to the floor. "Woah, hey…Xia? Xia you're alive too?" he stammered.

"What do you mean 'alive too'? I never died. But you… I heard what happened to you. How are you here?" she asked as she let him go to stand back up. "I…honestly don't know. But I'm not the only one." He replied and grinned as he held open the door. Another blonde appeared, one she had only known for a short time. But his appearance didn't bring a smile to her face as she saw the weapon he held in his hand which only brought back memories. "You! It's all your fault they disappeared! You took everything from me!" she shouted and suddenly clashed her weapon against the keyblade the boy held.

"Xia wait, it's me, Roxas!" he shouted back and Xia briefly paused in her upset spurt to see it was the truth. "What-how? How is this possible?" she breathed. "I'm just about as clueless as he is." Roxas said, gesturing to Demyx. "There is one other person we found. He's…outside." Demyx added. Xia glanced out the door and went past the two while disappearing her weapon. At first she quickly walked but it turned into a sprint until she was just outside the castle. Sure enough standing there was a silver haired man with dark skin, at first facing away then slowly turning towards her.

'There she is alive and well. Why don't you run to her? Hold her? Be glad you can see her again?' a voice spoke in Xemnas' mind, almost taunting him as he stood in place. It was Xia who ran up to him. "You're…back. You and some others. I thought I lost you!" she cried out and a single tear fell from the corner of her eye. "Why did you not tell me anything? Why did you lock me up? We're safe now so please tell me!" she shouted when he said nothing and simply stared back. 'Isn't this what you wanted? To have a heart to tell her how you truly feel for her? Or rather the girl she used to be?' the voice spoke again.

Without a word he turned his back on her before opening a Corridor. "Follow me." He said simply and stepped inside. Xia at first stood stunned before deciding to obey. They stepped out on top of Memory's Skyscraper and the pink haired Nobody immediately had a headache. "Why are we up here for?" she asked as she slowly walked up to him. Xemnas closed his eyes and was silent.

"I said you would never forget," Xemnas said, his voice trembling slightly. It seemed strange to see such an ordinarily-collected man so distraught. "I told you... I told you that you would be safe. I failed you." He turned away from her, pulling away from the embrace. "Out of everything," he said almost in a growl, "above all my successes, all my gains... That is all that matters. And you do not even remember."

He paused and finally turned her way. "Didn't you ever wonder why you seemed drawn to me?" he said angrily, though the anger seemed more directed at himself. "Didn't you ever wonder why you liked me, without ever having met me before? Didn't you ever wonder why I meant so much?" He suddenly grabbed her shoulders, staring into her eyes for answers. Xia stared wide eyed back. "I… want to remember. I do." Why was he suddenly like this? He never showed so much care towards her before unless… all those times he held her back to keep her safe.

She had always been loyal to him. Despite their small quarrels, she stayed by his side. Xia felt she needed to and never understood why. Suddenly Xemnas let go of her and backed up, teetering near the edge. "S-Stop..." He raised his hands, held his head and groaned. "S-Stop... Be... Stop being... Stop being... Stop being..."

A wall sprang up before Xia, a transparent rainbow-coloured wall that. As Xia brushed against it to try and get to Xemnas, it sent a powerful surge of energy through her body and hurled her backward. "Nothing is real," Xemnas laughed to himself. "I never would have thought that nothing could be so perfect..." He was on his feet in an instant, and spun to face Xia, his cloak billowing out behind him. "Do you know what I am, Xia? Do you even know what you are? I've asked myself, so many times, why we are still alive." He stepped toward Xia once, then again, slowly approaching. He walked through the transparent wall, causing it to shimmer gently as he did so. It vanished behind him.

"I know the answer." Xemnas said.

Silence took the roof of Memory's Skyscraper, and Xemnas just smiled darkly at Xia. He did not seem to be himself-the gleam in his eyes was something more malicious than what he usually showed. Rain began to fall, and matted Xemnas' hair to his forehead.

"We aren't."

Xia slowly got up from the ground and groaned as her head snapped towards Xemnas. The rain soaked her quickly as she merely stared at him with widened shaking eyes. "Xemnas? W-What's the matter with you?" she asked in a stammer. Xemnas laughed in a loud bark. "Xemnas!" he laughed. "Xemnas! That name means nothing to me anymore. Something has a name, Xia. Everything has a name! Am I a part of everything?" He doubled over, clutching his stomach and cackling like a madman.

"I am nothing! Don't you understand yet? Nothing and everything are but one!" He let go of his stomach and thrust both of his arms out to the sides. A strange sort of light gathered around his hands and expanded, encompassing the both of them. Still cackling, Xemnas cried, "I am everything!" Xia flinched from the brightness and when she opened her eyes she found them encased in some kind of dome of light. She could barely see out of it and had a feeling others couldn't see in very well.

Back at the castle, Roxas and Demyx had been searching for Xia and Xemnas. One minute they saw her rush to him outside, and the next they were completely gone. Something else felt off as well. Despite searching the castle top to bottom, no other Organization member could be found. It was possible they all might have been outside the castle so after quite a long time of searching they went out. But right as they reached the entrance, a portal opened nearby and both went into hiding.

Figures stepped out, multiple of them and not wearing Organization XIII cloaks. A young boy with his own blue cloak, a demonic looking shadow following him, an elven woman, and a werewolf. Or more like a wolf man. "I feel the energy was last here." said the boy, running his fingers through his ginger hair with a sigh. The shadow flew in front of him, somehow making an arm to put to an imaginary chin. "Yes, I sense it too. It must be close. Let's search outside." He said when he paused, seeing Demyx shift from behind a pillar.

Demyx gave a small yelp and hid away, glancing at Roxas. "Who are those guys?" he asked, worried that they would come over. Which they were currently doing. Roxas shrugged. "No idea. They don't look to be from around here at all." he replied and decided to come out. "H-Hi." He greeted and all stared at him. "A being from this universe it appears. But definitely doesn't contain the energy." The shadow spoke as it inched closer to Roxas, getting right up in his face. Demyx slowly popped out as well. "I'm here too!" he called out as Roxas froze up from the shadow getting really close.

"Yes yes, we sensed both your presences. You're not terribly good at hiding." The shadow retorted and flew back to the young boy. "Don't mind him. I'm Jake, this is Eve, Diego and you've already met Shadow." he said, gesturing first to himself, then the elf woman, the wolf man, then the shadowy figure. "This is kind of an emergency so we don't have a lot of time to chit chat. You ever heard of a being called the Dimension Keeper?" he asked though had a strong feeling they didn't.

Not to his surprise the two blondes shook their head. "Dimension Keeper? What is that?" Demyx asked. "It is a being who possesses the power to keep balance throughout the worlds of their universe. Every universe has their own Dimension Keeper. But this universe's Dimension Keeper seems to be… well broken is the best we can describe it. Whoever they are, they are not whole and it is starting to cause a shift in balance in the worlds and if not fixed, could be chaotic. How the universe managed to stay safe so far is beyond us." Jake explained.

He pointed the elf girl again. "Eve is the Dimension Keeper from my universe. With her around we can sense the presence of other Dimension Keepers. Though since the one here is broken it is hard to get an exact reading." He added, "If you don't mind, we could use your help finding them. We believe whoever it is they are around here somewhere." Roxas and Demyx glanced at each other, wondering just who it was they were sensing but since they too were looking for someone, perhaps helping them would lead them the right way.

"Sure, we'll help you. I'm Roxas by the way. And this is Demyx." Roxas said pointing to himself then Demyx. "Then it is settled. Let's leave the castle." Jake said and everyone followed him outside.

Back at the top of Memory's Skyscraper, Xia was on her knees and against the wall of the strange dome barrier covering herself and Xemnas. She was staring with fearful eyes and shaking body at the man before her. Xemnas never stopped chuckling, laughing, almost giggling with a disturbing glee; but, still shaking with silent laughter, he shot a glance sideways, down off of the skyscraper. A group of people, unimportant to Xemnas but a nuisance nonetheless, were approaching, Xemnas knew. Best to get this over with before they arrived.

"We will not be alone for much longer," Xemnas snickered. "Come, Xia. I must show you the most amazing thing. I'm sure you'll love it." He stepped toward her, but stopped suddenly. The light flickered violently, but did not fade. Xemnas's eyes went impossibly wide, and his jaw fell open as he stared blankly at Xia. He took a clumsy step back and sucked in a sharp breath. When he next spoke, he sounded more like himself, though he didn't have his usual confidence and arrogance.

"N-n-noth...N-noth-th-thing... M-m-m... X-X-Xia, y-you... D-d-don't... P... Puh... Plea... Please, X-Xia... Get... Get.. G-g-get aw-w-way..."

Hands shaking, Xemnas slowly raised them to his head and hunched his shoulders, looking down as he held his head.

"W-wh-why... N-n-n... N-now...?" he whispered. "I-I-I wasn't rea... ready..."

The next sound he made was a loud, barking laugh, which sounded almost eerily like a scream from deep within himself. Just as the sphere of light had flickered before, now it shone with a new, almost blinding intensity. For a moment, nothing outside the sphere was visible to them, and nothing inside the sphere would have been visible from the outside.

Xemnas burst into peals of mad laughter, dropping his hands from his face but not straightening his posture. When he spoke, he could barely get his words out, he was laughing so hard.

"Xia-what-what do you think-what is going to happen?" He broke off, cackling for a few seconds before he continued. "Do you think we'll all find hearts?" He snickered viciously at this. "Do you think we'll all become normal again? Do you think everything will just turn out with a happy ending?" He howled with laughter. The light around them seemed to be pulsing, and every pulse brighter than the last. Even Xemnas was squinting slightly, now.

In a flash and a soft swirling of wind, Xemnas stood directly before Xia, his face less than an inch from her own. He smiled, baring his teeth in such an aggressive manner that it suggested he mght be about to bite her.

"Do you think," he whispered, barely suppressing the waves of high-pitched laughter that surged within him, "that any of us will ever die?"


End file.
